Between the Sheets

Taste

An ounce each of cognac, light rum, and orange liqueur, with three-quarters of lemon behind them. Three ounces of alcohol in a coupe, so it drinks hot, and a full third of that is the orange liqueur, carrying the sugar and most of the aroma. The rum sharpens the grape in the cognac; the lemon is what keeps it moving. Coupe, lemon twist.

History

The earliest documented printing is Frank Shay's 1929 Drawn From The Wood, where the drink is equal parts gin, Bacardi, and Cointreau. Harry Craddock's 1930 The Savoy Cocktail Book prints it in thirds as brandy, Cointreau, and Bacardi rum, which is the version that stuck, and Charles H. Baker's 1939 The Gentleman's Companion carries a Jerusalem version of cognac, Cointreau, dry gin, and lemon in equal parts. Credit is disputed: Harry MacElhone of Harry's New York Bar in Paris is the usual claim, and Johnny Brooks put his own name to it in My 35 Years Behind Bars in 1954. This menu pours an ounce each of cognac, light rum, and orange liqueur with three-quarters of lemon, shaken, coupe, lemon twist.

• Difford's Guide, Between The Sheets

Same shape, other bottles

The Daisy family, with the bottle that changed.

• Ace of Clubsaged rum and lime juice for cognac, light rum, and lemon juice
• Margaritatequila and lime juice for cognac, light rum, and lemon juice
• Mezcal Margaritamezcal and lime juice for cognac, light rum, and lemon juice
• Elderflower Daiquirilime juice and elderflower liqueur for lemon juice and orange liqueur
• Lemon Dropvodka for cognac and light rum
• Sidecarwithout light rum